I recently picked up Rebel Inc., from the developer of Plague Inc. It takes Plague's web-of-hexagons upgrade system and bad-things-spreading-across-a-map mechanic, and applies them to a counter-insurgency setting. The combination works surprisingly well.

The overall goal is to stabilize part of Afghanistan an unnamed country by investing in programs that improve the lives of citizens, shore up the government, and contain an ongoing insurgency. You win by achieving 100% stability, and lose if your international reputation falls to 0% -- usually due to a combination of military losses and rampant corruption.

There's a lot of interesting tension between the different elements. For example, spending heavily in civilian initiatives is the best way to increase stability in the region, but it will drive up corruption. Some government programs can reduce corruption, but they're expensive -- and every dollar spent on anti-corruption means less to spend on civilian and military operations.

The map plays a much bigger role in Rebel than in Plague. Instead of passively watching your disease spread across the globe, you're actively moving soldiers around to beat back insurgent advances. Foreign coalition soldiers are effective, but they rotate out of the country when their time is up. You can extend their tours, at the cost of a big hit to your reputation. National army units stick around permanently, but aren't as effective in battle. You'll need a combination of both to keep the insurgency in check.

Overall, it's a short but meaty strategy game that plays well on my phone. A real treat.